David Murray Cuban Ensemle Plays Nat King Cole (En Espanol)

David Murray Cuban Ensemle Plays Nat King Cole (En Espanol)

What can you say about the dizzying output of saxophonist/composer David Murray? He’s released more than 150 recordings with all manner of bands. He's played free jazz, written chamber music, explored Ellingtonia, co-founded the World Saxophone Quartet, put out a tribute to The Grateful Dead, and shown an abiding interest in Latin music. Which brings us to 2011’s Plays Nat King Cole En Espanol, which draws most of its material from two Cole LPs (released in 1958 and 1962) that found the artful crooner singing Latin American material. Murray’s arrangements are superb, and his excellent Cuban Ensemble (and the 11-piece string outfit Sinfonieta of Sines) bring great feeling to his writing. The delightfully raspy-voiced Argentinean singer Daniel Melingo appears on four cuts, including the well-known Osvaldo Ferres gem “Quizas, Quizas, Quizas.” Murray's a force on tenor sax throughout, and his solo on “No Me Platiques” is quite moving. There’s a Murray original, “Black Nat,” and listeners should check out Murray’s bass clarinet on “A Media Luz,” a tango from the '20s.

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